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<p>The implementation&nbsp;will be&nbsp;part of an&nbsp;&euro;18.6m allocation given to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Budget 2016,&nbsp;&euro;4m of which is being&nbsp;made available to the Passport Office&nbsp;to fund the move to online applications.</p>

<p>The <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/online-irish-passport-renewals-set-to-start-early-in-2017-1.2732824?mode=sample&amp;auth-failed=1&amp;pw-origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Ftechnology%2Fonline-irish-passport-renewals-set-to-start-early-in-2017-1.2732824" target="_blank">Irish Times</a>&nbsp;reports that the system&nbsp;should&nbsp;be up and running in the first quarter of 2017 with a full service for all applications by 2019.</p>

<p>The announcement&nbsp;comes after applications rose by 10% from January-June with&nbsp;recent spikes from eligible British citizens&nbsp;following the Brexit vote and Irish fans travelling to the Euros,&nbsp;requiring the Department to hire hundreds of&nbsp;additional temporary staff to clear the backlog of nearly <a href="http://www.herald.ie/news/passport-mayhem-as-surge-in-applications-leaves-10000-overdue-34741339.html" target="_blank">70,000</a> applications.</p>

<p><span style="line-height: 1.6;">The number of Irish passports issued almost double since 2000</span><span style="line-height: 1.6;">&nbsp;from 388,000 to 670,000, half of which are renewals.</span></p>
